When the female voice is repressed and stifled, the entire community can easily find themselves cut off from the sacred feminine, depriving themselves of the full image of god.
Rob BellRead
Take faith, for example. For many people in our world, the opposite of faith is doubt. The goal, then, within this understanding, is to eliminate doubt. But faith and doubt aren't opposites. Doubt is often a sign that your faith has a pulse, that it's alive and well and exploring and searching. Faith and doubt aren't opposites, they are, it turns out, excellent dance partners.
Interpretation
Faith and doubt coexist and can enrich one another.
In this quote, Rob Bell suggests that faith and doubt should not be viewed as opposing forces, but rather as complementary elements in a person's spiritual journey. Doubt can indicate that faith is active and engaged, encouraging exploration and growth, much like how partners in a dance support and enhance each other's movements.
In practice
In a discussion about belief systems, you might say this quote to illustrate the complexity of faith.
When the female voice is repressed and stifled, the entire community can easily find themselves cut off from the sacred feminine, depriving themselves of the full image of god.
The moment God is figured out with nice neat lines and definitions, we are no longer dealing with God.
If the gospel isn't good news for everybody, then it isn't good news for anybody. And this is because the most powerful things happen when the church surrenders its desire to convert people and convince them to join. It is when the church gives itself away in radical acts of service and compassion, expecting nothing in return, that the way of Jesus is most vividly put on display.
Often the people most concerned about others going to hell when they die seem less concerned with the hells on earth right now, while the people most concerned with the hells on earth right now seem the least concerned about hell after death.
But whether I become a believer or remain an agnostic, my belief or disbelief must derive its source from within, not from without. I, myself, must create its symbols. The transcendental is that which produces its own form. I will never discover its secret if I do not find it in my own heart; if I do not possess it already I shall never be able to acquire it.
It is impossible for a man to be freed from the habit of sin before he hates it, just as it is impossible to receive forgiveness before confessing his trespasses.
The early Church was married to poverty, prisons and persecutions. Today, the church is married to prosperity, personality, and popularity.
Seems to me that the institutions that function in this country are clearly racist, and that they're built upon racism.
So we reach into the raging chaos, and we cling to it, and we tell ourselves it has meaning, and that the world is good, and we are not evil, and we will all go home in the end.
Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man
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